THE common cold gave Carole Hagedorn precious extra years of life after she was diagnosed with a rare and deadly ­asbestos-related cancer and given just 18 months at most to live.

Language teacher Carole had never heard of mesothelioma when she was diagnosed with it in 2008.

She went on to live another five years and 10 months after she became one of the first patients to undergo a pioneering treatment that uses a deactivated cold virus to kick-start the immune system ­enabling it to target and fight the cancer.

Mother-of-one Carole, who died in June aged 63, and her 68-year-old husband Vince, of Cambridge, used the time well.

They created a bucket list of all the places she had wanted to see and travelled the world on holidays to such dream destinations as China, St Lucia and San Francisco.

They even took advantage of their time at the University of Pennsylvania, where Carole underwent six weeks of treatment, to visit the Pocono Mountains.

Vince said: “Carole really grasped life, she had no inhibitions about it. We knew she was living on borrowed time and took advantage as much as we could. We almost completed the bucket list but could not make it to New Zealand and Australia.” The couple spent about £7,000 to travel to Philadelphia in 2010. Vince said he would have “sold his house” to pay for it.

He said: “We were nervous when she was selected for the trial but Carole said she had nothing to lose. She had only a few months anyway so if she died at least we would have tried something.

“We were able to have five extra years together. We had this lovely period where she could just enjoy being alive.”

The trial, which takes just one patient a year, usually includes two stages but ­Carole had a severe reaction. Doctors decided it was too risky to try again. “It was touch and go. She nearly died,” said Vince. However a severe fever showed that the treatment was working.

In 2011 she underwent a radical ­pleurectomy, having her lung lining removed to eliminate up to 95 per cent of the cancer. She became one of the few sufferers of the disease to make a recovery.

Her biggest fear was that she would die in agony but I can be glad that she passed away virtually pain-free, with dignity and in the company of her family

Vince Hagedorn

Carole died of a heart attack after renal failure. Vince, a former head of maths and business owner, said: “She didn’t die of mesothelioma. The treatment worked but I have been left with a hole in my heart that I can never fill.

“She was an amazing woman who never gave up. Her biggest fear was that she would die in agony but I can be glad that she passed away virtually pain-free, with dignity and in the company of her family.”

Carole had campaigned tirelessly for ­victims of asbestos exposure. Her dying wish was for Vince to continue her fight. She hoped her death might bring pressure on the Government to act. Some 75 per cent of school buildings contain asbestos, putting children and staff at risk.

Mesothelioma occurs in the lining of the lung when cancer cells form around asbestos, possibly just one fibre inhaled decades earlier. More than 2,500 people die from it each year. Vince added: “Carole worked to make sure future generations wouldn’t suffer like she did.”